Blinded
by archergirl14
Summary: On the search for Sasuke Uchiha after six years of being off the radar, Sakura, one of three ANBU captain's on this mission gets kidnapped. Who kidnapped her she doesn't know, but he sure as hell knows her. Little does she know that this man wants her, and her alone, and he's willing to do anything to get it.
1. The Beginning of a Nightmare

A/N: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, although I do own this story even if the idea is overused. All rookie nine are twenty-four.

_Ch.1: The Beginning of a Nightmare_

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

Sakura moved around on her bed expecting to feel the normally lumpy side of her mattress, but she found a flat surface instead. She bolted up knowing that the feeling of the bed meant it wasn't hers, nor was the smell of the mattress and pillows. Sakura thought her eyes were still closed but something seemed to be covering them instead, it didn't help that she heard the sound of chains jingling around her feet. She also felt physically drained, like something was stopping her chakra from replenishing itself. That's when she noticed the coldness of metal wrapped around her wrists, _chakra restraining bracelets_ was the only thought that ran through her mind.

Sakura leaned back as she tried to remember what happened before she'd woken up in this strange room, chained to a bed of all things. All that she could recall was that she had been on a retrieval mission, one that involved Sasuke Uchiha. He'd left his teammates and was off the radar for about six years, lucky for them he wasn't that far from Konoha at that current moment in time.

Naruto couldn't leave because he was now the current Hokage after Tsunade retired, it didn't take long after for him to propose to Hinata the current Hyuuga heir. She was expecting by the time Sakura had left for her mission to reclaim Sasuke, taking Sai and Neji with her; both of them being ANBU captains just like her. She closed her eyes behind the blindfold as she recalled more of what happened after they were deployed. Shikamaru was guiding them from the safety of the village, although he really wanted to go on the mission itself for a change. Then again he couldn't leave because his fussy wife, and Sakura's best friend, Ino who forbid it. She and Shikamaru had a one year old girl at home, and she didn't want him running off and getting himself killed. As they departed Sakura could hear a whisper on the speaker in her ear, she could have sworn she had heard him say 'troublesome woman' in an out right huff.

X

_Flashback to the evening after their departure_

Neji was leading the small group of Konoha shinobi throughout the surrounding forest, the twilight hour approaching fast as they moved on tree branches. It was on a tree branch in front of Sakura that Neji halted, his eyes scanning the surroundings. It was then that she noticed it felt like someone was watching them, and it really made her overflow with unease although it didn't show on her face. At that moment all three of them felt _his_ chakra in three different directions, it was then that Neji sighed.

"We'll have to split up here." He said not bothering to look at Sakura or Sai, whom were hanging back behind him. "It may be a trap, but we have to take the risk since it's Sasuke after all. Plus if we can drag him back as soon as possible, we might not have to worry about the elders wanting to put him to death. It will only be the Hokage's decision whether to sentence him to death or not, only if we can talk some sense into Sasuke." It was then that Neji turned around to face them. "Sakura you take the east, Sai take the west. I'll head north, if even one of us catches a glimpse of him alert the rest of the party through the radio."

Sai and Sakura nodded in agreement before placing their masks on securely, and running in the directions they were ordered to search. Sakura however couldn't pin point where the chakra was coming from, she came into a small clearing her eyes scanning every inch of it. All of a sudden the chakra faded, almost as if this was all planned. Then again it must have been, it definitely distracted all three ANBU's on the hunt for Sasuke. Sakura felt a presence behind her, but before she could turn around she felt a familiar pressure on her neck. Right before everything turned black and she went unconscious, unknowingly she was caught in a pair of strong arms before hitting the ground. The unknown man took her earpiece out and stepped on it, this action alerted the rest of the party that something had happened to Sakura.

X

Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the soft click of an opening door. She glared at whom ever entered even though it accomplished nothing with her eyes covered. The unknown person chuckled at her attitude. It was at that precise moment that she realized her kidnapper was a man. She scooted back against the bed as she heard his deliberately loud footsteps approach her. She moved away toward the edge of the bed as she felt the pressure of where the man was sitting, or rather moving toward her.

She squeaked when she felt his hand on the outer portion of her thigh, it slowly moved up to her hip. She smacked his hand away when she realized she couldn't move any farther on the bed, but it didn't do her any good because she was too weak with the draining of her chakra for his hand to even move. If she hadn't had these damn bracelets on, she would have been able to escape and manage to punch a hole in his face. He chuckled again in amusement before pulling her towards him with the chains on her ankles. She tried to resist but she was absolutely too weak, plus she hadn't eaten in a while from the way her stomach was growling.

"Sakura, you need to stop resisting me." His voice was as smooth as silk. Her thoughts drifted slightly when she thought she'd heard his voice somewhere. Before long, Sakura was trapped under his body, the heat radiating off him caused her to be embarrassed and furious all at the same time.

"Get off me asshole." she growled out as she tried to push him away weakly, _damn him and this whole situation. I don't even know who the hell this pervert is, not that I'd want to know in the first place, but he's practically forcing himself on me. _It was then that she felt something wet against the side of her neck. She held back a moan when she realized what exactly was touching her. _Good God, why the hell is he licking my neck. If he just wants to screw me, he should hurry up and get it over with. Most kunoichi my age always loose their virginity on a mission, although I'm still a virgin. If it gets him off my case, I'll gladly do it so I can get back to my team and continue my search for Sasuke._

He smirked into her neck as she cursed him. _Typical Sakura_, he thought before his hands went to her slim waist. He tried to kiss her but her first reaction was to turn her head away, he smirked again at the action. _I thought she would've been excited to be kissed by me, but then again she doesn't know it's me. My, hasn't fan girl Sakura grown._ He looked her over, he hadn't seen her in a little over six years but she'd grown into her current body quite nicely. Her chest had grown a few cups, while her hips were more pronounced. Her hair was now waist length again, if he'd wanted to he could use her hair to help aid him in a few other… activities, rather than having it spilling over the sheets under him.

He used one of his hands to move her face in his direction. As soon as she was blindly looking at him he forced his mouth on hers. No matter what he did she wouldn't open up for him, she had her lips in a tight line while he awkwardly kissed her. He thought of a way to get her to open up for him, and when he did grasp one, he moved his other hand down to where her heat resided. When he touched her on her sacred place she gasped, doing so, she easily let his tongue explore the moist cavern that was her mouth. He rather liked how sweet she tasted, considering how he hated sweet things. Her taste was unique, even though he'd never been intimate with anyone till now, to even comprehend how the difference between good and bad tasted.

It was at that moment she bit his tongue, which had previously been in her mouth. When it was his turn to curse, a full blown smirk spread over her cherry colored lips. Before he got a hold of himself she quickly kneed him in the groin (I'm not a man so I don't know how long the pain lasts). Thus causing any erection she might have given him, to disappear in an instant. He hunched over and fell to his side, which happened to be off the bed. He hit the bedroom floor with a loud, 'THUD,' and cursed once again at the pink haired vixen.

"Serves you right, you pervert." She huffed as she tried to pull the blindfold off her face, only to feel like her fingers had been burned. _Damn, it's infused with a strong chakra. I can't even touch the damn thing. Sure it won't torch my face, but anything else that touches it burns like hell._ Her stomach growled rather loudly during her thoughts and the man's voice quieted down, her face flushed once again out of embarrassment.

He slowly got to his feet, the pain between his legs feeling quite unbearable, but he managed to do it. "I guess I should have known you were hungry. It's been a least one day since you've eaten anything. I'll be back soon so don't move, not that your able to anyway."

She could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and to no end it infuriated her. She struggled once again to remove her chains as soon as the door closed behind him. At last she fell back against the bed panting. The struggling had done her no good in the end, and it was getting harder and harder for her to move around.

X

When the door finally clicked open again she could smell the food in the air, and it completely made her mouth water. The man placed the food on a table, beside her she presumed, before he gently picked her up slightly and propped her against the pillows on the bed so that she was now sitting up.

He lifted a spoonful of curry rice to her lips, but she refused to take it from him. "It's not poisoned if that's what you're thinking, I wouldn't do that after all the trouble I went through to get you. Now you NEED to eat something. I'll tell you what. If you eat I'll remove the chains from your ankles. How does that sound?" She thought for a moment, to his annoyance, before she finally opened her mouth. He sighed in relief as he continued to feed her. Then he finally groaned to his dismay when he noticed how sensual feeding her really was. Her tongue flickered to the spoon when the metal lightly pressed against her lips, and then it would slowly swipe over her lips after she swallowed tempting him to put the spoon away and devour her instead.

She held back a smirk when she heard an audible 'gulp' come from the man in front of her, now, she wasn't completely useless. She knew how to seduce a man without even touching him, and to her delight she was torturing the man in front of her rather drastically that he would almost miss her mouth, although… she didn't know why she liked it so much. Then again… his scent WAS familiar, but she still couldn't quite place it and it was annoying her to no end. "Who are you anyway, and why the hell did you kidnap me?" Sakura huffed after taking the last spoonful of food from him.

He lifted a straw to her lips so she could drink her fill of water, before he gently placed the glass back on the table. He pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked her ankle chains. He wasn't stupid, far from it. The room that they were in could only be opened and closed by a key. Once you were in, you couldn't get out if you didn't have the key on your person. Plus her chakra wouldn't be coming back any time soon, unless he chose to remove her bracelets. "As for who I am you needn't know, as for why you're here, now that's a different story. Would you like to know?" His smirk was back in place. He really liked playing this game with her. He could tell she didn't like this at all.

"Fine I don't need to know who you are, but why pray tell am I here, I don't even know you." Or so she thought, he was still familiar in some ways but others not. She felt him lean over and nearly recoiled, before she finally noticed he was moving a strand of hair out of her face. That left her with a dumb struck look on her face. She was confused, and this man was who confused her. First, he nearly molested her, second, he fed her without throwing it in her face, and third, he was being fucking kind to her.

"Now, now, Sakura, I have a reason for taking you, and it will reveal itself in due time." He grinned down at her before she chose to yell in his face. "You fucking liar, you said you'd tell me and then you go and pull this shit." She then spat in his face. He growled out at her before wiping his face with the napkin that he'd brought for her. "Hn, I thought I'd let the maid dress you for the night, but now I've completely changed my mind."

She looked on at him in horror, plus she thought he was mocking her with what her ex-teammate used to reply with all the time. She felt her zipper being pulled down exposing her chest to him, sure she had bindings on, but it was still embarrassing. She was relieved he chose not to take those off, but when he pulled off her shorts she began to panic. She heard a drawer opening and closing, before she was pulled to her feet, which she nearly fell to the ground what with how weak she was. She felt silk-like material being placed on her shoulders, before she was pushed against a wall.

He could feel her heart race under his hands. He trailed soft kisses down her collarbone, before softly sucking on the place where her neck and shoulder met. To his delight she moaned softly, she must have been sensitive on that part of her body. He made sure that he was in between her legs, he didn't want a repeat of earlier, before he pulled her right leg up so that her thigh rested on his hip. She was practically naked against him, yet he knew to hold himself back this time, it was her punishment for spitting in his face. Sure she might enjoy some of it, but she wouldn't enjoy it willingly.

She bit her lip to stop from moaning again, but her body chose to expose more of her neck to him, almost as if she were in submission. _Good lord, why do I have to be a virgin?_ She thought before the hand that wasn't holding her thigh cupped her bound breast. A gasp escaped her lips before she could prevent it. "Damn you." She muttered breathlessly, before she felt his lips on her skin again. His lips moved lower, his hot breath being released against her bindings. She held back another moan when she felt his lips on her, slightly wetting the cloth there with his tongue as it caressed her. Both of her hands went to his hair, before she felt vibrations against her, finally realizing that he was chuckling at her. She pouted slightly when he pulled away. Not exactly realizing she herself was making that type of expression at him.

Sasuke dropped her leg, before gently tying her sash around her waist. A pink silk night kimono was perfect for her. He gently lifted her off the floor, which made her squeal unintentionally, and made him smirk slightly. He held her in his arms bridal style, while also managing to pull back the covers against HIS bed. He laid her down against the bed, before slipping in after her himself. He managed to remove his shirt and blow out the candle at the same time. He rested against the cushions as he pulled the blankets over them. He wrapped one arm around her waist, before lightly pulling her body against his naked chest. The last thing he whispered into her ear was, "Soon you'll be mine."

Sakura sighed to herself. _Damn this man is possessive, AND controlling. He had me where he wanted me against that wall, yet he chose to go to bed._ She groaned, she rather wanted something to happen during that moment. How could she EVER be that stupid? She closed her eyes realizing that the man's breath against her neck had evened out, which meant he'd fallen asleep. She tried to pull away, but even in sleep his grip was tight around her. She just shook her head, there was nothing she could do and she knew it. Yet, it frightened her just the same when she started to drift off into a peaceful sleep with a content smile on her face, even though she never knew it was Sasuke holding onto her fragile body.

X

It was supposed to be a one-shot, but now I'm not sure. For some reason I tend to start stories but then loose my train of thought, plus it takes me about a week or two to post another chapter if I haven't already started on it. This was in my head for the longest time, but I never thought to put it to paper, or rather Microsoft word. So review to it if you want, maybe that will help me think of how to continue it. Feel free to give me some ideas.


	2. Worried Beyond Belief

A/N: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters, although I do own this story even if the idea is overused. All rookies nine are twenty-four. I'm using bastard for teme, and loser for dobe. I'm not really in to using the Japanese terms.

**Rosebunse:** Thank you for correcting me, the names looked so similar and I was tired. A very bad combo in my personal opinion. XD

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only:** This whole chapter was totally inspired by your words. It gave me a few ideas of my own. So I thank you very much.

**SasukeXSakuraLov:** It was nice to hear your opinion on the matter of Sasuke. I'll take your thoughts to heart on the development of the Sasuke within my story, he's still under construction.

**Imyself2121:** Thank you for taking the time to review my story. :3

_Ch.2: Worried Beyond Belief_

_Thoughts_

"Talking"

When Sakura's radio went dead, both Neji and Sai regrouped where the three of them had split up. Both had tried contacting her several times before converging, but they never received a reply. All they received was radio static, and the other team member's voice. "Have you heard from Ugly?" Sai asked Neji with as much worry in his voice that suited his expression which was rather grim. Neji just shook his head no, his face mirroring Sai's voice.

"Let's follow her chakra trail, that's the best lead we can have at the moment." Both Neji and Sai nodded to each other, before pushing chakra down to their feet to quicken their movement. As soon as they reached where the trail ended, they both froze their eyes meeting quietly.

"_His_ chakra still linkers here, from my viewpoint he's the only one that could have taken her." Neji choked out when he felt the full force of the chakra, it was one that should be feared and admired all at the same time.

"Should we report to the Hokage? Or should we keep looking?" Sai asked, still not moving from the spot he'd landed when they'd come upon the clearing. It was already past twilight, so looking in the dark would probably be useless. The chakra should linker for a few days, so that might help them a bit.

"We should report, it's getting too dark to bother looking." Neji calmly said as he finally moved from his frozen spot, only to start heading back to Konoha. Sai just nodded, knowing that Neji was the brains behind this operation, and if he said to leave it alone you did it no questions asked.

It didn't take long for them to return to the gates of Konoha, they bowed to the guards before heading for the Hokage tower. As they neared the Hokage's office they could hear shouting, it wasn't surprising since it was Naruto. "Konohamaru get your ass back here!" Yelled Naruto as said boy fled from his office laughing, he scurried past Neji and Sai who immediately moved out of his way.

Sai knocked on the door receiving a, "What the hell is it now?" From Naruto, which in his opinion meant, 'come in so I can slit your throat.' Sai pushed the door open, revealing a paint ball covered Naruto taking off his Hokage robe. Said man looked up with a glare, but it was replaced quickly with a smile as both ANBU walked into the room, both of them not meeting his eyes at first. "Where's Sakura?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth, they hoped he wouldn't ask, but it was just their luck he did.

"Ugly, was kidnapped." Sai said emotionlessly, like a true member of ROOT would act. Neji elbowed him in the side, not letting Naruto see him do it. He didn't need Naruto wanting his head on a stick, not with his wife Tenten waiting for him at home, but Sai was itching to make it happen to him. Naruto just narrowed his eyes at them, before slowly getting up from his desk.

He walked toward both men, both swallowing harshly in the process. All the members of team seven had frightening chakra, all were said to be the new sages of their generation. Naruto proceeded to pace back and forth in front of Neji and Sai, his chakra becoming more threatening as time passed. "What happened?" His voice seemed monotone, but you could still hear the anger behind it.

Neji stepped forward slowly, knowing that his question was directed toward him. After all, he was the one that had been in charge of the mission itself. "We left according to your instructions. About thirty minutes to an hour, _HIS_ chakra spikes appeared in three different directions. From that point on our group split, each looking for the source itself. About five minutes after separation Sakura's radio went dead. Sai and I regrouped at the separation point to follow her chakra trail. It openly led us to a clearing where the source of _HIS_ chakra still lingered stronger than all the others we'd followed. We've come to believe that he is the one responsible for kidnapping Sakura." With that said Neji returned to the spot he'd started from.

Naruto's expression changed often through Neji's explanation, it was long but it did explain what happened. Naruto bit his lip before waving them off, "You're dismissed. Oh and Neji, you NEVER split up when dealing with an Uchiha. It's common sense not to underestimate him. I thought you had more of it than what I've come to see just now." Naruto's glare zeroed in on Neji just before the milky eyed ninja disappeared. Naruto turned to Sai, wondering why he was even still in the room.

"Dickless, what do you think the bastard did with her?" Sai only acted professional when others were with them, but when it was just him and Naruto he always went back to using old nicknames. Which surprisingly didn't affect Naruto anymore, what could he say, he had a lovely wife who was with child.

Naruto sighed as he rubbed his temples in frustration. He had no clues as to what Sasuke had in mind for Sakura or himself for that matter. "I'm not sure Sai, this is so unlike him. I think he might be trying to lure me out of the village. Then again he knows I'm Hokage, therefore I can't leave the village." He hung his head in sorrow. He didn't know what to do. Sai gave him a sad expression for once, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. A light knock sounded on the door to his office, "Come in." His voice sounded weak, it was all he could say while trying to hold back tears of frustration.

"Naruto?" A small voice whispered before his head snapped up, there in the door way stood his very pregnant wife. Hinata looked at him in confusion, she wasn't sure what had just happened but she wanted to comfort her husband. She crossed the small space between them before wrapping her arms around him, her shy behavior still there as a blush presented itself on her cheeks.

Naruto hugged her back, his arms carefully wrapping around her before they rested on her lower back. "He took her Hinata, I'm not sure what Sasuke's plan is but it revolves around Sakura. I don't think he's after me, this seems more personal than I thought." Naruto's chest ached. First he lost one friend who was more like a brother to him than any other member of Konoha, now his so called brother took the only friend left that was extremely close to him and more like a sister.

"Naruto you should just let it play out. We know he won't hurt her because she wasn't found dead. So that must mean something else is going on, don't you think dear?" Hinata was always calm and caring, many knew she'd make a wonderful mother and Naruto was happy to call her his wife.

"You're right, I shouldn't obsess over this. I'll just send out a bigger squad of ANBU tomorrow to pick up her trail and his if they can find it. Other than that I have a meeting tomorrow with Garra about the Chunin exams, he's planning on being the Hokage guest during that period of time." Naruto sighed once again before kissing his wife, their lips touched briefly before she pulled away.

"You know, I could go into labor soon. Just be cautious when dealing with everything. I don't want you to miss the birth of our daughter." Hinata said rubbing her swollen stomach in the process, which caused Naruto to go to his knees and hold up her shirt lightly, before he placed a soft kiss on her stomach in a loving manner. She giggled slightly before giving him her usual gentle smile.

"Don't worry. I'll be there no matter what happens. Believe it!" Naruto said giving her a thumbs up. _Old habits do die hard._ She thought, before both of them left the Hokage tower for the night.

X

_The morning after Sakura's abduction_

Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sai, Tenten, Neji, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru stood before the Hokage as his full fledge ANBU squad. Only three of the seven were captains. Kakashi had temporarily been reinstated since he knew the fight patterns of both Sasuke and Sakura, just in case, along with Sai who had been part of team Kakashi back in the day. Naruto practically had to drag Shikamaru away from a very pissed off kunoichi by the name of Ino, sadly for Ino, Naruto was more afraid of Sakura's brute strength than her empty threats.

"Alright I've gathered all of you here to search for our top medic kunoichi by the name of Sakura Haruno. Nenji assumes that the missing Nin, Sasuke Uchiha, has kidnapped her. I want you to follow her chakra signature as far as it leads, then return back to Konoha with the results of your search. I'm going to split you into two groups. Group one will consist of Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sai, and Shino. Group two will be Neji, Tenten, and Kiba accompanied by Akamaru. Kakashi I want you to use your dogs to locate slight traces of Sakura's chakra if possible, same to you Kiba, I'd like Akamaru to follow suit with my instructions. Am I clear?"

"Yes." Their voices echoed through the room before Naruto nodded. "You're dismissed." All disappeared in a puff of smoke, each following his direct orders.

It was at that moment Shizune ran in panting, her breath coming out in short gasps. "Lady Hinata went into labor six hours ago." Those words were the only things that came out of her mouth, before the current Hokage rushed out of his office towards the Konoha hospital.

X

"Breathe Hinata, I know it hurts, just take in short breaths." Tsunade said looking up from Hinata's legs. She did as she was told, trying hard not to show her pain, but failing at the process miserably. The door slammed open with a panting Naruto rushing in at full speed, not far behind him Shizune appeared, she took the time to shut the door behind her.

"Hinata are you okay?" He asked taking hold of her hand, while using the other to move her sweat soaked hair out of her face so he could see her milky foam colored eyes. She smiled slightly before pain shot through her and she cried out, Naruto not knowing what was going on, started to panic before Tsunade slapped him across the face.

"She's in labor you idiot, of course she's going to be in pain. It's the whole process of giving birth, now shut up or get out." The blonde medic growled as she glared at the blonde man at Hinata's side. "Okay Hinata it's about time to push, on the count of three. 1, 2, 3, and push, come on I know you can do it, 1, 2, 3, and push." This process went on until a baby's wail echoed through the white room. Hinata fell back exhausted against her husband, who was in quite a shocked that she could withstand all that pain.

Shizune cleaned the baby before gently handing her to Hinata bundled up in a pink blanket. The proud parents both looked down at the child. She had light patches of golden hair, and when she opened her eyes they were a milky blue. "She's beautiful." Naruto said giving a light kiss to Hinata's forehead, before lightly stroking the baby's cheek with his thumb.

"Did you two decide on a name?" Tsunade asked while cleaning her hands in the sink, she looked back at them with a smile on her face. "Her name is Yasuko." Hinata whispered while Naruto just agreed with her statement. "Peaceful child eh? I'd say it matches her nicely." She wrote down a few notes, one of them being the baby's name, before heading out the door. "Oh and Naruto, you might want to hold onto her so Hinata can rest. I'll have Shizune come back and take her to the nursery." And with that the blonde was out the door with Shizune hot on her trail.

X

_With the ANBU squad outside the gates of Konoha_

After leaving the gates, both small ANBU groups followed the light traces of Sakura's chakra. As soon as they reached the clearing where Sai and Neji knew Sakura to last be seen, Akamaru put his nose to the ground before placing his paws on his muzzle and started to whine. Kiba already knew what he was whining at even before they set foot in the clearing. Sasuke's chakra presence existed powerfully here, but the thing was it didn't seem like it moved at all. It was as if there was no trail to follow, like he'd made sure it didn't exist at all. "Guys, I think this is as far as we'll get. He really made sure we couldn't find any trace of Sakura after he took her, almost like her chakra was shut off." Before Kiba could say anything else Shikamaru stopped him.

Said man had his hand raised, signaling that he wanted silence while he looked around. Shikamaru observed the bits and pieces of their presence here, but he also knew that Sasuke would make sure to cover up Sakura's existence most effectively. The only problem is that he didn't really bother to cover up his, well he did, but not good enough that Shikamaru couldn't follow it. He made a few hand signs before closing his eyes.

"Release." He muttered before all members of the group could now sense where Sasuke's and Sakura's chakra led to, it figures that Sasuke would use genjutsu on them to mess with their senses.

"Kiba, I suggest you, Neji, and Tenten return to Konoha to inform the Hokage of our findings, if needed Akamaru can pick up my teams scent if he sends you guys after us for reinforcements. I'm sure we'll find where they are in the next twenty-four hours. If we cannot find them we'll return back to Konoha ourselves. Let the Hokage know that he should wait at least twenty-four hours before sending anyone at all, it should give us time to figure out what exactly is going on." Kiba nodded his dog mask slipping slightly down his face, Neji, and Tenten followed his movements before they were nothing more than black dots in the remaining ANBU team's vision.

"How much do you want to bet that this trail is going to end up being a dead end? No one here happens to be stupid. I'm also pretty sure Sasuke isn't either. After all Shikamaru, he does know how smart you are and that Naruto would have to eventually send you out." Kakashi gave Shikamaru a hard look while explaining his thoughts, and he was actually making sense.

Shikamaru sighed before crossing his arms over his chest. "I know it might lead us to a dead end, but I'd feel a lot better following it to make sure. Plus, Ino is such a drag." Everyone in the group just shook their heads all thinking the same thing. _So part of it was just an excuse to be away from Ino, she's his wife. He just has to suck it up and deal with it._

"Let's get a move on people. We only have twenty-four hours before reinforcements are sent, and I'd much rather have a feel of the situation before that tends to happen." Shikamaru waved them on, and they had to obey for he was a high ranking ANBU captain. But Sai came in a close second behind him on the ANBU ranks other shinobi were assigned.

Pakkun arrived in a poof of white smoke in front of Kakashi, "Their trail came to a stop near the land of waves. Water doesn't carry scents for a very long period of time. They might have used that to their advantage, so it might be diluted just a little after how much time we've wasted."

"Alright if that's what's happened so far," Kakashi turned back to face his team. "We'll just have to head back and explain our findings, or lack there of." He then turned to Shikamaru while Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke. "We don't need to follow the trail now. Pakkun discovered its end so there's no need now."

Shikamaru sighed, he was silently hoping to stay out a bit longer, but it looks like his wish wouldn't come true. "Fine Kakashi, we'll follow your orders." He bowed to his senor before putting his mask back on. "We're heading back to Konoha to inform the Hokage of our findings. Now let's move." Shikamaru was the first to turn back towards their home. Everyone else just followed behind him silently, not sure of anything except that Sasuke didn't want to be found, and that made Sakura untraceable too.

X

Alright, this took me a while. I had to come up with a few ideas for it, but I was glad to have help from the reviews I've received. The next chapter will be focused on Sasuke and Sakura again. I think I'll alternate like this for the whole story. That is unless I need to focus more on a certain side. Anyway if you would, please take the time to review, thank you in advance. :3


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